Germination and organic reserves of seeds from common Amazonian floodplain tree species

LOPES, Aline; SILVA, Naara Ferreira da; DEMARCHI, Layon Oreste; ALBUQUERQUE, Bianca Weiss de; WITTMANN, Florian; SCHÖNGART, Jochen; PACCOLA, Edneia Aparecida de Souza; PIEDADE, Maria Teresa Fernandez; REBOUÇAS, Elizabeth Rodrigues

doi:10.1590/1809-4392202403633

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BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION | ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Acta Amaz. 55 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202403633 linkcopy

Germination and organic reserves of seeds from common Amazonian floodplain tree species

Germinação e reservas orgânicas de sementes de espécies arbóreas comuns de planícies alagáveis da Amazônia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Amazonian várzea floodplains (approximately 450,000 km²) are dynamic ecosystems where tree species must adapt to seasonal flooding. In this context, germination patterns and the type and composition of seed reserves (lipids, soluble sugars, proteins) are critical for seedling establishment. This exploratory study examined seed biometry, reserve composition, and germination performance in eight common tree species from high- and low-várzea environments: Guazuma ulmifolia, Hura crepitans, Pseudobombax munguba, Nectandra amazonum, Zygia latifolia, Handroanthus barbatus, Macrolobium acaciifolium, and Crateva tapia, aiming to contribute to the understanding of functional strategies in tropical flooded areas. Considerable interspecific variation in seed size (length: 0.31-38.03 mm; width: 0.40-36.59 mm) and reserve content was found. Hura crepitans and P. munguba had the highest lipid levels, while H. barbatus showed elevated concentrations of soluble sugars and proteins. The highest germination rates were observed in H. barbatus, C. tapia, and P. munguba, whereas Z. latifolia and N. amazonum germinated more slowly. Despite the limited number of species and sites, patterns suggest that low-várzea species invest more in reserves and germinate more slowly, consistent with a resource-conserving strategy for early-establishment. High-várzea species showed less consistent patterns, indicating the need for broader studies. Reserve composition helps explain adaptive germination responses to flooding, evidencing the complexity of these strategies. Our results provide a basis for understanding functional diversity and guide research and restoration actions in these ecosystems.

Keywords:
forest management; seed size; seed mass; seed reserve

Species	WD	DC	E	P	SD	RWI	Reference
Crateva tapia	0.49 ± 0.05	low	LV	Perennial	Water and fish	9.6 ± 1.0	Parolin and Ferreira 1998
Guazuma ulmifolia	0.51 ± 0.04	low	HV/LV	Semi-deciduous	Birds	19 ± 0	Almeida-Cortez 2004
Handroanthus barbatus	0.83 ±0.08	high	LV	Deciduous	Wind and water	3.4 ± 1.0	Fonseca-Júnior et al. 2009
Hura crepitans	0.38 ± 0.09	low	HV	Perennial	Wind and water	18.1 ± 0.4	Wittmann et al. 2006
Macrolobium acaciifolium	0.45 ± 0.03	low	LV	Deciduous	Water and fish	10.4 ± 2.6	Schöngart et al. 2005
Nectandra amazonum	0.44 ± 0.07	low	LV	Deciduous	Water and fish	14.7 ± 2.2	Wittmann et al. 2006
Pseudobombax munguba	0.23 ± 0.04	low	HV/LV	Deciduous	Wind, water, and fish	13.5 ± 2.5	Schöngart 2003; Wittmann et al. 2004
Zygia latifolia	0.75 ± 0.02	high	LV	Perennial	Water	-	Monteiro et al. 2022

Family	Species	Length (mm)	Width (mm)	Thickness (mm)	Fresh Mass (mg)
Capparaceae	Crateva tapia	9.74±0.68	9.09±0.56	4.97±0.47	31.70±1.31
Malvaceae	Guazuma ulmifolia	0.31±0.46	1.90±0.17	1.80±0.14	6.40±1.07
Euphorbiaceae	Hura crepitans	21.44±1.61	20.11±1.51	5.85±0.56	88.41±2.68
Bignoniaceae	Handroanthus barbatus	38.03±9.26	14.78±1.61	3.81±0.51	623.80±122.69
Fabaceae	Macrolobium acaciifolium	26.89±1.74	15.48±1.12	15.48±1.12	4042.70±591.40
Lauraceae	Nectandra amazonum	33.33±2.49	36.59±2.66	5.84±0.98	4304.10±1008.20
Malvaceae	Pseuddobombax munguba	0.50±0.08	0.40±0.07	0.30±0.09	24.32±1.71
Fabaceae	Zygia latifolia	25.50±2.14	27.19±2.14	6.54±1.09	2412.00±427.50

Species	Lipids (mg gˉ¹)	Lipids%	TSS (mg gˉ¹)	TSS%	Proteins (mg gˉ¹)	Proteins %
Crataeva tapia	330.48^b	77.11%	18.21 ^c	2.5%	146.39^b	20.4%
Guazuma ulmifolia	96.19^d	69.6%	18.22 ^c	13.2%	23.76^d	17.2%
Hura crepitans	554.55^a	54.6%	33.98 ^b	3.3%	427.49^a	42.1%
Handroanthus barbatus	192.23^c	77.9%	53.85 ^a	4.3%	331.66^a	17.7%
Macrolobium acaciifolium	8.43^e	33.3%	22.66 ^c	9.3%	71.25^bc	57.4%
Nectandra amazonum	123.53^c	8.2%	20.63 ^c	22.1%	84.78^bc	69.6%
Pseudobombax munguba	423.23^a	54.0%	23.52 ^c	9.0%	96.38^b	37.0%
Zygia latifolia	3.64^e	4.0%	35.36 ^b	38.6%	52.59^cd	57.4%

Species	G (%)	GSI	MGT	E (%)	ESI	MET
Crateva tapia	95^a	2.320^a	11.78^b	94^a	1.330^a	18.37^b
Guazuma ulmifolia	61^a	1.260^a	17.13^b	38^a	0.646^a	17.99^b
Handroanthus barbatus	99^a	1.882^a	16.49^b	94^a	1.225^a	20.71^b
Hura crepitans	88^a	1.000^a	24.05^b	97^a	0.650^a	34.71^a
Macrolobium acaciifolium	53^a	0.629^a	23.89^b	45^a	0.326^a	37.26^a
Nectandra amazonum	25^a	0.289^a	27.32^a	20^a	0.125^a	44.67^a
Pseudobombax munguba	91^a	6.195^a	4.54^c	86^a	3.005^a	07.60^b
Zygia latifolia	17^b	0.166^b	64.01^a	13^b	0.079^b	68.09^a

	WD	Length	Width	Thickness	Fresh Mass	Lipids%	TSS%	Proteins%	G (%)	GSI	MGT	E (%)	ESI	MET
WD		0.14	0.49	0.85	0.84	0.98	0.42	0.66	0.67	0.21	0.19	0.64	0.28	0.32
Length (mm)	0.57		0.02	0.21	0.11	0.33	0.63	0.27	0.48	0.12	0.29	0.67	0.15	0.15
Width (mm)	0.29	0.78		0.33	0.04	0.03	0.16	0.03	0.07	0.06	0.08	0.20	0.05	0.01
Thickness (mm)	0.08	0.50	0.39		0.05	0.32	0.86	0.17	0.38	0.14	0.43	0.49	0.13	0.22
Fresh Mass (mg)	0.08	0.61	0.72	0.71		0.02	0.20	0.01	0.03	0.16	0.25	0.05	0.11	0.08
Lipids(%)	-0.01	-0.39	-0.76	-0.41	-0.80		0.01	<0.001	<0.001	0.28	0.03	0.02	0.18	0.01
TSS(%)	0.33	0.20	0.55	0.08	0.51	-0.83		0.12	<0.001	0.32	0.01	0.01	0.23	0.02
Proteins(%)	-0.19	0.45	0.76	0.54	0.85	-0.94	0.60		0.03	0.34	0.15	0.10	0.24	0.04
G(%)	-0.18	-0.30	-0.67	-0.36	-0.77	0.90	-0.90	-0.76		0.11	0.02	<0.001	0.06	0.01
GSI	-0.50	-0.60	-0.69	-0.57	-0.55	0.44	-0.40	-0.39	0.61		0.08	0.15	<0.001	0.04
MGT	0.52	0.42	0.66	0.33	0.46	-0.75	0.86	0.55	-0.78	-0.65		0.06	0.06	<0.001
E(%)	-0.20	-0.18	-0.51	-0.29	-0.71	0.80	-0.86	-0.63	0.97	0.56	-0.68		0.08	0.05
ESI	-0.44	-0.55	-0.71	-0.58	-0.61	0.52	-0.48	-0.47	0.70	0.99	-0.68	0.65		0.02
MET	0.40	0.56	0.82	0.49	0.65	-0.84	0.81	0.73	-0.83	-0.74	0.96	-0.70	-0.78

Species	Classification	Reference
Crateva tapia	Recalcitrant	Alves et al. 2017
Guazuma ulmifolia	Orthodox	Carvalho et al. 2006
Handroanthus barbatus	Recalcitrant	Conserva et al. 2013
Hura crepitans	Orthodox	Conserva et al. 2013
Macrolobium acaciifolium	Recalcitrant	Maia et al. 2005
Nectandra amazonum	Recalcitrant*	Carvalho et al. 2008
Pseudobombax munguba	Orthodox	Marques 2019
Zygia latifolia	Recalcitrant*	Ståhl et al. 2004

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Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia Av. André Araujo, 2936 Aleixo, 69060-001 Manaus AM Brasil, Tel.: +55 92 3643-3030, Fax: +55 92 643-3223 - Manaus - AM - Brazil
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[TFN1] LV = low-várzea; HV = high-várzea.